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Genesis 6

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1 And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them.

2 The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took themselves wives of all which they chose.

3 And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4 Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

5 And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,

6 It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,

7 He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noe found grace before the Lord.

9 These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.

10 And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

11 And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.

12 And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth,)

13 He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.

15 And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed.

18 And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.

19 And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of each sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female.

20 Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on earth according to its kind; two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.

21 Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.

22 And Noe did all things which God commanded him.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 598

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598. 'He found grace in Jehovah's eyes' means that the Lord foresaw that the human race could in that way be saved. The mercy of the Lord entails and looks to the salvation of the whole human race; and so does His grace. Consequently, the salvation of the human race is meant. 'Noah' means not only a new Church but also the faith of that Church, which was a faith that inhered in charity. The Lord accordingly foresaw that it would be possible for the human race to be saved by means of faith that inhered in charity. Such faith will be dealt with later on.

[2] In the Word however a distinction is made between mercy and grace, a distinction which depends in fact on differences in those who are their recipients. Mercy applies to those who are celestial, but grace to those who are spiritual, for celestial people acknowledge nothing other than mercy, while spiritual acknowledge hardly anything other than grace. Celestial people do not know what grace is, while the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is, for they make mercy and grace to be one and the same. The reason for the difference springs from each one's humility. People in whom there is humility of heart plead for the Lord's mercy, but those in whom there is humility of mind (cogitatio) seek His grace. Or if the latter do plead for mercy they do so in a state of temptation or with the lips only and not with the heart. Since the new Church called Noah was not celestial but spiritual, it is not said to have found mercy but to have found grace in Jehovah's eyes.

[3] The distinction made in the Word between mercy and grace is clear from very many places where Jehovah is said to be merciful and gracious, as in Psalms 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; Joel 2:13. The same distinction is made elsewhere, as in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness, when He went to give rest to Israel. From afar Jehovah appeared to me. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with mercy. Jeremiah 31:2-3.

Here 'grace' has reference to what is spiritual and 'mercy' to what is celestial. In Isaiah,

Therefore Jehovah will wait to grant you grace, and therefore He will exalt Himself to be merciful to you. Isaiah 30:18.

Here similarly 'grace' has regard to what is spiritual and 'mercy' to what is celestial. And further on [in Genesis] where Lot is addressing the angels,

Behold now, Your servant has found grace in Your eyes, and You have magnified Your mercy which You have shown to me in causing my soul to live. Genesis 19:19.

Here also it is clear that since he is spoken of as 'having found grace in Your eyes' grace has regard to spiritual things which are matters of faith or of the understanding. And since the expressions 'to have magnified mercy' and 'to have caused my soul to live' are used, it is equally clear that mercy has regard to celestial things, which are matters of love or of the will.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.